Settlers complain: no annexation, and now also a de-facto building freeze | | Tovah Lazaroff - Jerusalem Post - Settlers complain of what call "a
de-facto freeze" on new settlement construction, in light of the
deal with the United Arab Emirates and the resulting suspension of
any annexation plan. At issue in particular is the half-a-year
hiatus of the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria, which
convened twice at the start of the year: once in January and again
in February. At the time, under the purview of then Defense Minister
Naftali Bennett of the extreme right Yamina party, plans for some
4,385 settlement housing units were advanced, an unusually high
number. But there were no further meetings since then. "Planning has
been frozen,” Settler leader David Elhayani said. “For half-a-year
the planning council has not met. Each week, we`re told it will meet
next week. We’re being played as if we were a chip on a backgammon
board. We have many new construction plans which cannot start until
they get the council`s approval”. [ak] | 25/8/2020 |